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DRM-Free Classic Games Store Opens To Public
arcticstoat writes "With all the controversy surrounding DRM in games at the moment, one games store has decided to buck the trend, proudly proclaiming that all its games are DRM-free. First announced back in July, Good Old Games is now in the public beta stage, which means that anyone can now access the site's archive of classic PC games, and you can do what you want with your game when you've bought it, too. 'You won't find any intrusive copy protection in our games; we hate draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do,' says the site. 'Once you download a game, you can install it on any PC and re-download it whenever you want, as many times as you need, and you can play it without an internet connection.'"
In related news, Stardock, the company responsible for the Gamer's Bill of Rights, is apparently working on a new copy-protection solution that will be friendlier to consumers than current schemes.
I'm pretty surprised that they managed to get all these out on the start. I expected one or two good games, but whoa, Descent? Earthworm Jim? Fallout? Gothic? MDK? Operation Flashpoint? Shogo?
It's like I died and got zombified in the better part of the 90's!
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams [...]."
You can probably download most of these games anyway. And it's not like DRM ever stopped pirates.
No DRM? Good news for pirates!
No, good news for honest buyers.
Let's divide people into three groups: those who buy, those who make the pirated (DRM-free) version, and those who pirate.
Those who buy will now get a better product.
Those who pirate never see the DRM in the first place.
Those who make the pirated version will have an easier time; this benefits the pirates ever so slightly, but DRM is often defeated faster than you can say Yo-Ho, so the benefit is ever so slight.
The real winners, whenever DRM is removed, are the honest consumers.
I bought Freespace 1/2 off of GOG and played it on my Mac through FS2_Open, the open sourced FS engine... a kick ass game, in beautiful high res graphics. This is how all abandonware should work ;).
And it sure as hell beat the X-Wing / Tie-Fighter series out of the water in terms of innovative mission design.
Plus, their site is really slick, clean and easy to use.
The price is a bit on the high side for some of the old games. Battle chess for $6?
Now that the canadian dollar has tanked again, that's closer to $20.
I might be a little more interested in buying some of the really old games for something more in the neighbourhood of $3.
You can get a sale on steam sometimes for some new indie games around $6-$8.
Yes, but how well will the pirated versions play on XP or Vista? They might do ok on XP, but it seems with each newer iteration of Windows, compatibility mode works less and less. With GOG, you don't have to worry about downloading a few programs just to get them to work. You can pay a small fee and just have the game work. That's the intent. A cheap classic without DRM that will be guaranteed to work on Vista? Yes please!
Stardock != Starforce
So, it's probably fine in standard Wine too once you have your configuration solid.
Oh, and this is on my Mac , CrossOver Games 7.1 from codeweavers.com :D
Thanks GoG!
<script>alert("I never liked JavaScript, really; it just seemed a bad idea.");</script>
I mean I thought Volition officially released it as a free game for anybody to play. I thought it was released as Freeware a couple of years ago.
Those who pirate never see the DRM in the first place.
Sure they do, I just proved it to you.
yeah, but if you're a pirate, then mounting a DVD image of one more game isn't a huge effort, as you've already got the relevant software set up for your other pirated games.
The original point still holds true...DRM is more of a hassle to legitimate purchasers than it is to pirates.
Business/App ideas are like arseholes: everyone's got one, they're mostly shit, but very rarely they contain a diamond
I've been using GOG since they released the private beta, and it's really good!
Being an "old-but-not-pacman-old-school" gammer, I just loved the fact that I can get some old favorites for a very reasonable price, and without DRM!
I even got the chance to buy Messiah, wich I never got to play, although I can remember the hype quite clearly ;)
It's a really great project and I'm looking forward to see even more oldies-but-goldies on GOG.
The industry should really wake up and realize that we the people still enjoy the old games and will pay money for them, as long as the companies don't try to extort us or push DRM down our throats.
"A sysadmin is a cross between a detective, a police officer, a gardener, a doctor and a fireman"
That really does depend on the DRM, though. I quite agree that the best option is no DRM, but that's not to say that all DRM is equally bad.
The DRM in Mass Effect was a right pain. Forget the limited-activations issue -- it nearly prevented me from activating the game once, thanks to a locale-related bug that suggests that the underlying code is incredibly poorly written. I shall never play another game that uses SecuROM, period.
On the other hand, the only way I know Valve's games have DRM is because I've been told it. I'd never have noticed otherwise, because buying from Steam has been completely hassle-free.
They would still have the DRM and suffer any weird problems the DRM gives you. Such as SecuROM's numerous bugs, issues starting games because certain software is installed, wrecked disc drives from anti-piracy checking tools etc.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Does anyone know if I can get any of the Tex Murphy games (preferably just Under A Killing Moon & The Pandora Directive) anywhere? TIA
Todd: I hope it proves as delicious as the farmers that grew them
Very interesting. So in 10 years I can get Spore or Bioshock from them and it won't have any DRM?
There are ports of it with open GL
http://www.descent2.de/d2x.html
http://www.dxx-rebirth.de/
A few other dos games have windows ports as well.
Nonsense. We pirates have had free access to all these things for years. I guarantee you there's not one game in their catalog that's not freely and easily available on the internet. So really, there's absolutely no point to putting DRM on it.
But I'm not sure there's much point to selling these old games either. Everyone involved with their creation got paid and moved on many years ago, so there's not really a moral imperative to reward the creators. I'd feel guilty if I pirated a new retro style game, like Al Emmo, but not these.
I'm sure someone will want to pay for these though, so someone might as well sell it. I suppose there's always a possibility that if enough people buy Freespace 2 we might see a Freespace 3, but that seems slim.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Don't hurt yourself while getting off your high horse:
http://www.gog.com/en/thanks/
Their thanks page specifically mentions DOSBox.
Are you going to part with some of those dollars now or do you just like to complain?
How about this rationale: By increasing the profit potential for really good games (even a decade after their original release!), we encourage game companies to make more really good games. Otherwise they'll just focus on short-term gains with yet another Sims expansion pack.
Cynicism, like dogmatism, can be an excuse for intellectual laziness. - Susan Shirk
Look harder. Linked from the front page and everything.
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
Looks good so far, but their library is still a little limited. I still have copies of most of the games I'd want to buy.
Now if they get access to Sierra and LucasArts' back catalogue, then we're in business.
Soylens viridis homines es
all those DRM'less digital download games are perfect for netbooks without optical drives. a jolly good idea that i will be supporting.
I signed up and bought Hostile Waters on Thursday.
GoG.com is easily the best online buying experience I have ever had.
The selection is quite good but currently limited (I already own 20 of the 40+ titles). Most titles are $6, with a few more recent ones at $10.
The site design itself is excellent, with a global wishlist, ratings, reviews, and forums. Buying was totally painless.
Games are DRM-free downloads, pre-patched, XP/Vista compatible, come with installers, have extra download materials (like manuals), and get game-specific support sections and forums.
I'll definitely be shopping there again.
Yup, you just like to bitch.
The fact is, 99% of the people using GOG aren't going to care about DOSBOX. The only thing they care about is that they have a hassle free way of getting their favorite classics to run on their newer PC. That little thanks that you expect on every single page will just clutter the layout
Besides, their thanks page isn't hidden. Using hyperbole to drive home your bitchiness doesn't make it your point any more valid.
Well, I guess that answers the grandparent's question to you. The link to the Thanks page is on the bottom of every single page, including for their forums. It seems quite appropriate to me.
If the Dosbox team didn't want this sort of thing to happen then they could have specified that it was free for non-commercial use only.
How was this flamebait?
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Actually, bad news for pirates. Much of the motivation for those who crack games is the challenge of defeating copy protection, and the kudos they get for supplying the game to others. Defeating DRM is a game in itself. Where's the challenge now?
Furthermore, it's easy to justify pirating a game when it is sold for a high price with intrusive, annoying copy protection schemes. You can make the case that it could be damaging your computer, or that you hate being forced to play off of the CD, or that the game is too expensive. Whether or not these arguments are valid, they make for great excuses.
But now when the games cost 6 bucks and have no protection, pirating will just make a person feel like a real cheapskate.
The old game by Monolith? Tough to get running on Windows XP correctly, I'd pay good $$$ for a working port.
I think it was flamebait because people disagree with you. Not that this is how it should work, but this is how it works.
I'm too tired to address the point I made, but others have essentially done it for me.
Happy /dotting :)
Just out of curiosity, I know you can download steam games again, but can you make a backup of it and authenticate with the steam client? Do games install as like, %\Portal\ and then you can back that up or move it around, but it would require you to connect with steam and prove you own (log on and authenticate I guess?) it to actually work?
Wondering because I have a capped plan, and I'm not alone, so downloading even 10GB of games is not an option some times.
Geezus, I am getting old.
-- haaz.